Esplora Interactive Science Centre on behalf of Xjenza Malta and the National STEM Engagement Working Group is launching a Call for Expression of Interest: Evaluators
Services Required
To review projects submitted for the fourth edition of the National STEM Community Fund (2025).
The Fund: Description and Main Aim
The National STEM Community Fund is a government-funded initiative of the STEM Engagement Working Group chaired by Esplora Interactive Science Centre on behalf of Xjenza Malta. It is administered by Esplora. The 2025 Fund is of a total of 100,000 euros inclusive of Fund management expenses.
Its aim is to inspire the design and enable the implementation of community-based projects grounded in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). By bringing together citizens and professionals active in a STEM field, the Fund celebrates the relevance of science within the community and strives to foster citizen science and bolster science engagement, education and communication.
Eligibility Criteria
Professionals expressing their interest to be Evaluators need to be in possession of a tertiary degree in a STEM subject or in a field relating to community initiatives. They should have at least five years of professional experience in their declared areas of expertise. Interested parties are requested to send a short Curriculum Vitae or bio note as well as a copy of their qualification certificates.
They should have relevant experience with evaluating projects and an interest in community actions, science engagement and citizen science.
If the evaluation services are being offered under the auspices of an entity, a profile of the entity must also be submitted, in addition to the professional profile and Curriculum Vitae of the person applying to be the Evaluator.
If the evaluation services are being offered under the auspices of an entity, the company’s registration and VAT number should also be provided. With exception to this clause, if the Evaluator is self-employed, then only the person’s VAT number is required. All Evaluators, including VAT-exempt professionals, will be required to provide their VAT number.
Overview of Evaluation Process
Esplora is seeking to engage three Evaluators in the framework of a Contract for Services for the duration of the evaluation process of applications received in the framework of the National STEM Community Fund 2025 (6 – 19 June 2025 for Tier 1; and 3 – 16 July 2025 for Tier 2 if necessary).
As explained in the Fund Guidelines accessible here, the second round of evaluations (Tier 2) will be a fresh evaluation of any applications having scored between 65 % – 75 % in the first round (Tier 1). These applicants will be given the opportunity to tweak their applications in line with the Evaluators’ feedback.
The three Evaluators will form the Evaluation Panel and will nominate a Chairperson among them, who will communicate the Evaluation Panel’s consensus rankings and reports to Esplora. Evaluators will be independent and autonomous, with Esplora only offering administrative support.
Evaluators will receive a copy of each project application, including all related documentation submitted by the Applicants.
Scoring will be done on a scoring sheet and rubric reflecting Fund criteria, which the Evaluators will send to the STEM Engagement team ahead of meeting with the other Evaluators. Scoresheets will need to be sent to Esplora within 10 days from receipt.
During the consensus meeting, Evaluators will decide how to allocate the available funds to the winning projects.
The Chairperson of the Evaluation Panelwill then send the final results to the STEMEngagement team by email with the other attendant members of the Evaluation Panel in copy.
The selected Evaluation Panel can only convene if all three members are present, and can be convened online or in person.
Estimated Dates/Timeline
| 23rd May 2025 | Deadline for submission of online application |
| 2-6 June 2025 | Eligibility Check by Esplora and sending of Documents to Evaluators |
| 6-19 June 2025 | Compliance, evaluation and ranking of submitted projects – Tier 1 |
3-16 July 2025 | Compliance, evaluation and ranking of submitted projects – Tier 2 |
| July 2025 | Payment of Evaluators and Preparation of Grant Agreements |
| 31st July 2025 | Announcement of Grantees |
Conflict of Interest
Evaluators will be required to sign a Conflict of Interest form. They are to notify Esplora immediately (within 2 working days) in the case of a conflict of interest with regard to any of the applications received. A conflict of interest is considered to automatically arise if the Applicant or any Project Partners are directly related (next of kin) to the Evaluator or if the Evaluator is the direct supervisor, colleague or business partner of the Applicant or Project Partners.
Remuneration
Evaluators will be paid €50 (excluding VAT) per evaluated project. An invoice will be required from each Evaluator for the total number of evaluations done. VAT-exempt Evaluators who cannot issue an invoice will be required to send a fiscal receipt.
Applying to be an Evaluator
Interested parties are kindly requested to send an email expressing their motivation and highlighting relevant experience to stemengagement.esplora@esplora.org.mt with, in attachment, a short Curriculum Vitae/bionote as well as scanned copies of their certificates of qualification. In the same email professionals expressing their interest are to confirm their availability for the evaluation periods stated above.
The email and documents need to reach Esplora by no later than: 5th May 2025
